Deegaan. Politics and War in Somalia 341water sources and pastures to replenish depleted herdss8 Hence, clans such
as the Ogaden and the Marehan were forced to migrate in search of resource-
rich environments in order to sustain and expand their herdss9 It is these
migrations that were the genesis of the competitions between the migrating
pastoralists and the farmers who were settled near to the Jubba River.@-'
Somalis who have lived in the Jubbaland region for centuries can be found
along the coast and along rivers. They include Arabs, Bajunis and other
groups who founded the cities all along the Somali coast. They came as
traders, slaves and rulers, with the latter group having come from A~abia.~'
They engaged in trade with the Somali and Oromo groups that lived in the
hinterland. However, the Bantu inhabited the region longer than any other
group. Arabs and other slave traders brought the Bantu, who became settled
farmers, to the area as slaves. Bantu settled along the riven and farmed var-
ious crops for subsistence. The Italian colonialists also used them as a read-
ily available labour supply in order to cover administration costs. The cre-
ation of large-scale Somali farms in post-independent Somalia has further
alienated the Bantu and other minority farmers from their traditional lands.
Somali clans which inhabited the region since the early 20Ih century
include the Ogaden and Biyamal clans. The Ogaden and the Biyamal clans
migrated southward in the early parts of the 20Ih century ahead of the
Abyssinian incursions and the nationalist movement of Sayyid Mohammed
Abdille Ha~san.~~ The Ogaden were migratory pastoralists in search of water
and grazing lands for their livestock. The pastoralist Ogaden developed a
reciprocal relationship of exchange with the farmers along the Jubba River.
Ogaden pastoralists developed exchange mechanisms with riverine farmers
in order to acquire goods that they were unable to produce in the interior
areas where harsh ecological conditions prevailed. Furthermore, pastoralists
used resources near to the river on the understanding that they were to be
shared with the farmers.63 This interdependence ensured the survival of the
different groups, although conflict occasionally de~eloped.~
Recent immigrants to the Jubbaland are those who moved to the region in
the post-independence period. Past Somali governments encouraged free and
unrestricted movement of pastoralists as well as traders from all clans into
the region. Authorities rarely protected the rights of the local inhabitants who
were by and large ignorant of their rights to access and use the resources that
were allocated by the government to newer immigrants. However, since 1991.
following the break-up of the central state, there have been massive migra-
tions of people into the region seeking access and use of resources.
Conflict to control deegaan in Jubbaland in pan results from these uncon-
trolled migrations that are rooted in famine, drought and conflict in the Bay
and Bakol regions to the north of Jubbaland. Migrations of internally dis-
placed populations from the Bay and Bakol regions increased the population
of the Jubba River valley and aggravated resource scarcities, leading to